mental strength training | Warrior Mind Coach - Helping You Achieve Peak Performance

Q&A About Mental Strength Training and Peak Performance

Mar 012013

Over the past several weeks I’ve been getting quite bit of emails about mental strength training and peak athletic performance.

There have been several common questions that I thought would be a great idea for a post. So below are the most asked questions (this past month) on the mental strength training and peak performance.

If you have any questions you’d like me to answer please email them top me or ask them in the comment section at the bottom of this post.

Which mental skill do you find most useful to elite athletes?

Imagery also referred to as visualization, but imagery is much different. Since images are the language of the unconsciousness mind and the unconsciousness mind runs the body, i.e. muscle memory, full sensory imagery is by far the most useful.

When I talked about “full sensory imagery”, this means the athlete sees, hears, feels, smells, tastes the experience. Only seeing the event/performance will help, but not as much as “full sensory imagery.”

What might you say to an elite athlete right before a competition to help them get in the right frame of mind?

This is a tough one because just like physical preparation mental preparation takes time. Mental strength training is not an instant fix. The mental side of the game has to be worked on as much, if not more than the physical.

So, if I had worked with an athlete we would have established a cue word(s) to help her/him relax and focus.

When if comes to the competition side of sports performance “no mind” is the best mind. The athlete wants to stop thinking and let the unconsciousness mind take over. This is why is so important to make mental strength training a priority.

What is one of your all-time favorite quotes or stories regarding the mental side of peak performance?

As far as quotes go, here’s a great one:

“Players today put too much emphasis on lifting weights; low body fat and big muscles that they think make them look good — all that bull shit. What you need to play hockey is heart and determination, and the ability to stay mentally strong. Mental strength beat physical strength any day.” ~ Phil Esposito

As far as a story, I must say that my experience with surviving an avalanche rates in my top 5 . There are several reference and video about this on the blog and here’s the YouTube link just in case : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dExEECVKmOo

What are some favorite words of wisdom or encouragement might you say to an elite performer after a crushing loss in a major competition?

This goes back to mental strength training is not a quick fix. When working with athletes part of the mental strength training involves controlling thoughts and emotions before, during AND after the event.

I work with athletes to develop post competition reviews, regardless of the outcome. This way they are in the centered space to review their performance for all the things that worked as well as all the things that could have worked better.

The main emphasis after not winning a competition is to learn from it and move one. Dwelling on it serves no purpose and can actually hinder future performance.

Would you like to learn more about mental strength and athletic performance? Then pick up a copy of Mental Strength Training for Sports today!

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Mental Strength Training for Peak Performance at DeLuca’s

Athletic Performance, Mental Strength, Mental Training, Peak Performance 2 Responses »

Oct 042012

I wanted to follow-up my announcement as the Dir. of Mental Strength and Conditioning at Deluca’s Sport Performance in Melbourne, Fl.

Not only will we be offer a on-site 12 week program for the development of mental strength in sports, but will be also be offering this as a residential intensive program delivered over 3 packed full days.

Mental strength is required to be successful in sports. If being good in any sport were easy, you when it needs mental strength. And, as you know, excelling at a sport requires weeks, months, and years of hard work. Without mental strength, you won’t be able to pursue sports for years on end. They’re just too difficult and require too much hard work, persistence, and resilience.

Mental strength has a direct relationship to your confidence. As your mental strength rises, so does your confidence. These two qualities feed off each other and can make you a great athlete or block you from doing your best.

The greatest tool an athlete has is the mind. The brain-the wonderful organ that regulate your breathing, controls your beating heart, and manages the rest your body-is at the core of all successful sports performance.

Everybody knows that talent and physical skill play an anonymous role in every athlete success, but not many people understand the importance of the mind and how we use it. In fact, your mind is one of the most powerful pieces of sports equipment you’ll ever own. It can make you or break you.

What Are the Benefits?

Just as physical training strengthens the body, mental strength training provides the conditioning to fortify the mind.

Mental strength training can help you to:

• Attention/Focus Control - Learn to identify what is most important. This will help you decide when it is more appropriate to shift your focus from the “big” picture (broad), to something more specific (narrow). Learn how to stay focused amidst distractions and maintain focus on the task at hand.

• Confidence Building - Optimism is an asset that looks at both successes and setbacks to increase energy and enthusiasm. Learning how to optimistically perceive a situation increases our chances for success. Learn how confidence develops, how to build or improve confidence, and learn to retain or regain it in the face of adversity.

• Energy Management – Discover your optimal level of energy to perform at your best. By using more-effective breathing and thought processes, you will: get into your ideal performance state, restore energy at a rapid rate, and recover from injuries at a much faster rate.

• Imagery - Improve all aspects of performance through practical application of mental imagery techniques. Because the mind thinks in images, this process uses the idea of envisioning success before it happens. Creating a mental rehearsal or blueprint in your mind conditions yourself to react to a situation before it actually happens.

• Mental Skills Foundation - Find out the how’s and why’s of the mind, its relationship in both assisting us to perform better and its role in inhibiting performance. Think about the choices we make and how we can influence them. Thoughts influence feelings or emotions, feelings or emotions influence behavior; learn to use effective thoughts to increase chances for success.

• Goal Setting - A seven-step process that incorporates motivational aspects to achieving goals. Learn how to establish goals and stick to them. Learn how to break goals down into bite-sized pieces and build-in aids and statements to assist in success.

Other Benefits

The mental strength skills you’ll learn will not only help you as a competitive athlete, they will also help you in the other areas of your life such as:

Educational

Social

Relationship

Leadership

Financial

Spiritual

Performance Enhancement

Performance enhancement is the deliberate cultivation of an effective perspective on achievement and the systematic use of effective cognitive skills. A competitive athlete can maximize performance by mastering thinking habits and emotional and physical states. These training methods, derived from applied sport psychology used in training professional and Olympic athletes, are also applicable in other human-performance contexts.

Using the mind’s power to find a competitive edge has become an indispensable element in training modern athletes. Athletic Transformation is similar in many respects to personal development, but no physical facility or group of trainers existed to train the mental science of peak performance…until now.

The Mental Strength and Conditioning department at DeLuca’s offers group, individual and team training.

When you think about what athletes have to do to be successful in their sports, you realize how important strength is – you put your body through all kinds of challenges to succeed. But did you realize that mental strength is every bit as important?

Mental strength encompasses:

Resilience and the ability to bounce back or deal with adversity

Motivation to do your best, regardless of the situation

The ability to stay focused on the task at hand during important competitive moments

The ability to remain poised when the pressure is on during competition

We’re here to tell you that mental strength is something you can develop, just as you develop your athletic skills and talents.

For more information about mental strength training for sports and life Contact Me or Deluca’s Sport Performance.

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Mental Strength, Sports and Athletes Performance

Athletic Performance, Mental Strength, Peak Performance, Personal Performance No Responses »

Aug 022012

There are many factors that influence an athlete’s performance ability; genetic inheritance, fitness levels, technical skills and of course their mental strength.

Although many sports athletes will spend a lot of their time on their fitness and technical skills, the mental side of the game is often neglected and often only considered when trouble arises.

The skilled athlete has experienced times when they are ‘in the zone’, where they are performing at their physical and mental best in what some describe as a state of “Flow”. If you ask them how they achieved this flow state most likely you’ll get the response “I don’t know it JUST happens”. What this means is that it is an unconscious process and it is outside of their normal conscious awareness.

In modern sports the ability to access these flow states by optimizing mental skills can mean the difference between winning and just competing! Of course there is nothing wrong with competing but the “money” is on those who produce consistent results.

A good deal of the debate on stress has focused on the sporting environment and its impact on athlete’s performance. This is an important area for attention, but it is also true that it is possible to place two individuals into the same sporting environment and to observe that one succumbs to the pressures of stress and one thrives!

The difference between the two can be explained through the model of ‘mental strength. This explains how individuals develop resilience and an inner drive to succeed. ‘Mental strength’ emerges as a key component for individual athlete and team performance.

Applications and research show that mental strength is directly and closely related with:

Performance – explains up to 25% of the variation in performance

Behavior – more engaged, more positive, more “can do”

Wellbeing – more contentment, better stress management , less bullying

Aspirations – more ambitious, prepared to manage more risk

Research in the Psychology Department at the University of Hull – under the direction of Dr. Peter Clough Ch. Psych. Has identified the four key components of ‘mental strength’. This research has now been independently validated through studies in Canada, Italy as well as the UK.

Peter Clough’s work means that we now have:

We are able to define and describe ‘mental strength’ and use it to understand why people perform.

The first psychometric measure which measures an individual’s ‘mental strength’– it is valid & reliable.

The creation of a Mental Strength Development program – parts of which are validated and parts of which are unique.

The result is a complete process and program which has valuable applications in the world of sports and athletic performance.

Mental strength can be broken down into four categories and are called the 4C’s:

CONTROL

CHALLENGE

COMMITMENT

CONFIDENCE

CONTROL

Athletes who score high in the categories feel that they are in control of their performance and of the environment in which they compete.

They are capable of exerting more influence on their sporting and training environment and are more confident about working in complex scenarios.

This means for example that, at one end of the scale individuals are able handle lots of things at the same time. At the other end they may only be comfortable handling one thing at a time.

In addition, in the CONTROL category there are two subcategories:

CONTROL (EMOTION) – Athletes scoring highly on this scale are better able to control their emotions. They are able to keep anxieties in check and are less likely to reveal their emotional state to other people

CONTROL (LIFE) – Athletes scoring higher on this scale are more likely to believe that they control their lives. They feel that their plans will not be thwarted and that they can make a difference.

COMMITMENT

Sometimes described as “stickability”, this describes the ability for an athlete to carry out tasks/performance successfully despite any problems or obstacles that arise while achieving the goal.

An athlete who scores at the high-end of the scale will handle and achieve things to tough unyielding deadlines. Whereas an individual at the other end will need to be free from those kind of demands to achieve their goals.

CHALLENGE

Describes the extent to which athletes see problems as threats or opportunities. Some will actively seek out challenge and change and will identify these as ways for self-development. Others will perceive problems as threats.

So, for example, at one end of the scale we find those who thrive in continually changing environments. At the other end we find those who prefer to minimize their exposure to change and the problems that come with that – and will strongly prefer to work in stable environments.

CONFIDENCE

Athletes who are high in confidence have the self-belief to successfully complete tasks and performances, which may be considered too difficult by individuals with similar abilities but with lower confidence. Less confident individuals are also likely to be less persistent and to make more errors.

Athletes at one end of the scale will be able to take setbacks (externally and self-generated) in their stride. They keep their heads when things go wrong and it may even strengthen their resolve to do something. At the other end individuals will be unsettled by setbacks and will feel undermined by these.

Confidence also has two subcategories:

CONFIDENCE (ABILITIES) – Athletes scoring highly on this scale are more likely to believe that they are a truly worthwhile person. They are less dependent on external validation and are generally more optimistic about life.

CONFIDENCE (INTERPERSONAL) – Athletes scoring highly on this scale tend to be more assertive. They are less likely to be intimidated in social settings and are more likely to push themselves forward in groups. They are also better able to cope with difficult or awkward people.

Clearly the ‘mental strength’ model has specific and obvious applications for sports, individual athletic performance and team performance.

The challenge lies in identifying what might be the causes of stress and pressure for each athlete and to help them to become aware of these. Awareness leads to understanding, which, in turn, can lead to positive action – and improved athletic performance.

Similarly, where the team coach also becomes aware of the potential causes of stress and pressure they are more able to plan and to act to minimize their impact for peak performance.

Specific mental strength training for athletic performance, both individually and in teams, can be found at Mental Strength Training for Athletes.

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15 Steps to Mental Strength in Sports – Part I

Athletic Performance, Mental Strength, Peak Performance No Responses »

Mar 292012

When it comes to athletic performance there are only few athletes that understand how the power their mind and thoughts have a direct result on their performance.

The others just haven’t gotten the message yet and continue to turn in subpar or inconsistent performances.

Knowing and using the power of your mind to enhance your athletic performance doesn’t guarantee peak performance, a scholarship to a Division-I college or being drafted by the pros. What it does guarantee is that you will have consistent performance inline with your athletic ability.

Over the next several weeks I’m going to layout specific steps for you that will:

Demonstrate how important mental strength training is.

Give you tools and techniques to help with your mental strength training to enhance your athletic performance.

So let’s get to it…

Step 1: Being Aware

This may sound obvious but most athletes that are struggling are not even aware of what’s going on inside their heads.

This step is short one and the most important of them all. If you are not aware of what you are focusing on and your self-talk you’re doomed to continue to turn in poor performance after poor performance.

Of course, the assumption here is that your technical athletic skills are at the level they should be.

In this step you begin to be aware that the power of your mind can enhance or derail performance.

This awareness shows up when you are struggling at your game, despite having the physical and technical abilities.

You are focusing on what NOT’S important and all the things you can’t control.

You worry about doing well in the event, but this leads to you getting tense during game and your performance declines.

You inner conversation is mainly negative self-talk.

Desperate attempts to get out of slump you actually reinforce the slump by focusing on what’s not working.

These are the mental mistakes that are made before and during event which negatively affect your athletic performance.

So, once you are aware the “something’s going on” and it’s not our physical or technical ability we move on to the next step.

Step 2: Getting Back In Control

Getting back in control is to know when you are in a mental slump and how to easily move out of it.

You get back in control by understanding the power of your mind and the role it plays in either undermining or enhancing your athletic performance.

Two Key Mental Mistakes

There are two mental errors that are at the core of diminished athletic performance:

Engage in destructive self-talk

Area (focus) of concentration (before and during event) was is all the wrong things

To improve your mental strength in sports you first have to be aware of these two critical factors. These two factors play an integral role in other mental strength skills that affect your athletic performance such as:

Ability to stay cool in the clutch

Abel to let go of mistakes

Avoid sike-outs

Master positive thinking

Maintain motivation

Use failure constructively

Properly prepare for up coming events

Build self-confidence

To better help you understand how the mind (your thoughts) play a critical role in your athletic performance let’s look at the “death spiral”, that is how slump happens and how most athletes stay in it.

The Cycle Nature of A Slump and Poor Performance

There is a trigger or event that touches them off. This can be a myriad of things, a dropped pass, miss shot or generally a bad performance.

Then you engage in negative self-talk about the event. You run the event over and over again.

This in-turn leads to deterioration in your confidence.

You begin to worry – focus on – that “it” might happen again.

This creates an expectation of failure, of “it” happening again.

So before and during performance get nervous about “it” happening again.

Getting nervous increases your muscle tension and creates a distraction.

You try to compensate for the tension by trying harder and continue negative self-talk of focusing on “I hope it doesn’t happen again.”

This negative self-talk disrupts concentration from focusing on the right cues to achieve your peak performance.

All this leads up to and resulting in a poor performance. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The funny thing is that this happens so fast you’re not even aware of it. Then each time to cycle is played it reinforces itself, each bad performance can lead to another and another…unless you get back in control.

Just as there is a “negative loop” (described above) there is also a “positive loop” that reinforces good performances.

This is done by:

Engage in positive self-talk

Giving your focus and concentration on the right cues. Especially before and during the event. However you post-game dialogue is equally important as it sets up your expectation for the next event.

In sports and in life…you get what you expect.

The race is won prior to and during the event, not when the event is over. By then, it’s too late.

This is why your attitude and mental strength is so important during your practice sessions and before as well as during the event.

There is an interrelationship, a direct connection, between your mind (what you are thinking) and your body (how well you will perform).

If you use negative self-talk you’ll start to get nervous, your muscles will get tight, your heart rate will increase, your blood pressure will go up, your breathing will become shallow and your stomach will start to feel funny from the digestion shutting down, and your hands and feet will begin to get cold as blood is forced into your “core.”

This WILL affect your athletic performance in a negative fashion.

Let’s look at two of these components:

Tight Muscles: With tight muscles your timing will be off and will produce the opposite effect of being in zone…that is, tight muscles are the kiss of death!

They will produce:

Inflexibility

Slow you down

Improper body mechanics

Increased fatigue

A Chance of injury

Cold Hands and Feet: Since most sports involve the use of hands and feet this can have a devastating effect on athletic performance were “touch” and feel are crucial, such as football, soccer, basketball, etc.

Remember that self-talk either works for you or against you. Your athletic performance is self-fulfilled based on you what you focus on and your self-talk.

So, how to you get back in control?

You build an awareness of your mindset before a performance.

Here do this…think of a time when you really had great performance.

Got it…

Now, what did you think about and focus on before and during that performance?

OK…now think of a really poor performance.

Got that…

What did you think about and focus on before and during the performance?

Now compare. What are the differences between the two, that is, what was your self-talk and focus before both these performances?

I hope you now see and understand that how you perform is directly related to what goes on in your mind.

Get in control of your thoughts, self-talk, focus and your performance will improve.

Fieldwork

Take time right now….yes right now and review several other good and bad past performances…in detail. Become aware of patterns of self-talk for both performances.

Remember if you can’t become aware of them, you can’t break off the negative self-talk and focus that contributes to your poor performances. And you won’t be able focus on the right self-talk that will enhance your performances.

Next week we’ll continue with the next step creating mental strength for peak performance.

If you’d like to get started today on controlling your self-talk and focus pick up a copy of “Mental strength Training for Athletes” by going HERE.

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Mental Strength and the Power of Self Confidence

Mental Strength 2 Responses »

Aug 072009

Self-confidence can be described as the ability to trust oneself as well as one’s gifts. This quality is critical to a person’s successes throughout one’s lifetime. This mental strength helps people to understand that they are worthwhile and that they are able to succeed in their actions. Even individuals who do not possess this trait can start to increase their self confidence.

Without this mental strength, a number of persons are unable to accomplish life dreams. They are often ineffective in relationships, educational attempts, and work situations. They often acquire a social phobia, and tend to be awkward in social encounters. Those who do not possess self-confidence frequently be reluctant to attempt to aspire or labor toward goal accomplishment; these people become convinced that they are likely to fall short. They know that they are not as good or as capable as those around them. They usually do not succeed because of their lack of belief in themselves.

In contrast, the one who is able to gain self confidence will find himself or herself strong enough to change this painful trend and achieve a cure for this social phobia. Such a person will find that building self confidence results in amazing improvements in relationships and academic achievements. Often, an employment prospect can occur because of actions toward boosting self-confidence.

People may have failed to build self-confidence for a number of reasons. They might have had domineering parents, or been teased frequently during their school years. Many struggled educationally or socially. Others simply had difficulty making friends or encounter the reassuring support of classmates, parents, or teachers. Frequently, these individuals struggle with a self-perception of inadequacy and uselessness.

Many times, individuals who were not able to gain self confidence as children struggle with building self confidence throughout adulthood. They have been unable to learn how to affect this, and are able to learn only if they look for the assistance and support of peers or professional counselors. Too many people do not want to admit these difficulties in their lives, and merely continue to strive during their lifetimes.

A number of strategies are sometimes utilized to help individuals to build mental strength and self confidence. Many styles of counseling approaches, like behavioral therapy or group therapy, have been used to instruct clients how to boost self confidence. Numerous self-help books have been developed to coach people to improve self-confidence. Therapists even provide seminars and retreats structured to assist people gain self confidence.

Although all of these strategies may be helpful, three alternative strategies that are not difficult to learn and quite effective for a majority of persons who try them are confidence hypnosis, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and mental strength training. Professionals who employ confidence hypnotherapy and mental strength training are typically successful in coaching clients to acquire self-confidence and drastically improve both their outlooks and their abilities to succeed in life.

Classic hypnotherapy (employing post-hypnotic suggestions) can be very useful. This approach is most helpful for people who are suggestible and easily directed. This type of therapy typically is not helpful with persons who are more methodical or are critical thinkers.

Those described by the latter category, Ericksonian hypnosis or NLP therapies work much better. These approaches are excellent for effectively relating to the subconscious, which is the seat of our thoughts and feelings. This is because the resistance typically offered by analytical persons to suggestiveness is bypassed.

A tool offered through that individuals are usually taught to boost self-confidence is called anchoring. Anchoring is a normal experience. For example, if you encounter a song from the past, and have sensations of deja vu, this is because your unconscious connected the sensations in a past situation, with the music that was playing during that time. So hearing the song again, the unconscious triggers the memories related to it. So the song is an anchor for those memories.

Using the technique known as anchoring, individuals are coached to recall an instance where they did experience the emotions of confidence. As they recall and re-experience those sensations, they are taught to touch two fingers together. The unconscious then associates the feelings of self-confidence with this physical action. If the individual says that he or she has no memory of ever feeling confident, the person is encouraged to design an imaginary event where they do see themselves exhibiting confidence, and then anchor that instance of confidence.

Once they’ve anchored the emotions of confidence, when they find themselves in situations that necessitate self-confidence, touching the fingers together triggers emotions of confidence that are useful in the present situation.

Another very powerful NLP technique called the “Flash” may be utilized to instantly exchange painful feelings, which are often related to a lack of self-confidence. Because of this method, the individual diverts the visual images that cause negativity, to trigger mental images to generate a positive feeling.

For instance, the client directs the unconscious to employ the mental cues that trigger emotions of uncertainty, as triggers for mental images that trigger perceptions of confidence. Mental pictures trigger emotional reactions.

Everyone has goals, and desires. A number of persons can work toward these to achieve their desires. Sometimes, however, people permit their lack of self-confidence to conquer them. Even though NLP does not work for everyone, the vast majority of clients who try this strategy report great success in boosting self confidence. This approach is actually more beneficial than alternative approaches for most people.

Summary: Those who lack self-confidence and mental strength typically do not easily succeed in many areas of their lives. A number of factors cause persons to experience social phobias or feelings of incompetence. A number of strategies can help clients to boost self-confidence. Among them, NLP is widely reported to be very beneficial by a large percentage of people who have tried this strategy. A different and equally successful avenue is mental strength training.

To Your Inner Strength,

Gregg
Warrior Mind Coach

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Hello world!

Mental Strength Coaching No Responses »

Sep 262008

Welcome to Warrior Mind Coach and Training WordPress for mental strength.

Since this is my first post to this board I’d like to share a bit about myself…

When faced with a challenging choice or decision Gregg’s job is to ask

“Are you prepared to make a choice?”, “Once the choice is made, are you courageous enough to start?” and “Will you commit to finishing what you start?”

Gregg is Professional Certified Coach and Personal Fitness Trainer. He owns Warrior Fitness Training, Warrior Mind Training and Warrior Marketing. His high quality, high content and high energy programs are thoroughly researched and delivered in a unique, powerful and straight forward manner.

Prior to becoming a professional coach Gregg established himself as a top performer in sales with over 30 years of very successful executive, high-tech and telecommunications sales. He also has extensive experience as a business leader, motivator and marketing guru.

Gregg’s formal training as a certified professional coach is from the International Coach Academy. He is also certified from NESTA as a Mental Skills Coach and Life Strategies Coach. His Personal Fitness Training certificates are from NESTA and ISSA. Gregg is also a certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach and Firewalking Facilitator.

Gregg is an outstanding member of the International Coach Federation, NW Coaches Association, International Mental Game Coaching Association and Mental Toughness Institute. His areas of expertise in coaching are mental strength, fitness, abundance and sales/marketing. Gregg enjoys coaching individuals (especially men over 40) couples and groups.

His passions range from fitness and exploring to learning and coaching. Gregg has climbed various mountains throughout the Western United States and Mexico. In June of 1998 Gregg survived a horrific avalanche while descending from the top of Mt. Rainier.

Currently Gregg enjoys an adventurous life in Bend, OR with his wife Diane, wolf-dog Kanani and ruler of the house Wittney the cat.

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